The past two decades have seen the evolution of requirements for greater and greater flexibility in the carrying of telecommunications signals. These signals now include simple data, facsimile signals, voice signals, data representing still pictures, and moving picture data.
A hybrid network for carrying a variety of signals is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,499. Such a network carries circuit type traffic (constant bit rate) and variable bit rate packet traffic. If the network is primarily an Internet Protocol (IP) network, constant bit traffic is carried over channels with priority to ensure that delay and jitter are kept in bounds.
At this time, the cost of transmission channels for carrying wider bandwidths still exceeds the cost of transmission channels for carrying narrowband data or voice. Frequently, however, what starts out as a voice call may be transformed into a call requiring the transmission of still or moving picture data, for example, as part of a sales effort. What is needed, but has not yet been provided in a satisfactory arrangement, is a system for flexibly augmenting, for example, a voice call with the transmission of picture data or bulk data. However, such arrangements are limited to establishment of calls having all the required facilities initially.